From Orange is the new black to Community - Let's potato chips- the fake brand tv shows love

Chances are if you've watched any American comedy you'll have seen the characters eating Let's potato chips.

Whether you've seen them being eaten in shows like Orange is the New Black, Arrested Development, The Middle, Ugly Betty, My Name is Earl or Community, you might have found yourself saying like I did: "Mmmm, they look nice - I fancy a bag."

It's when you start looking for Let's potato chips that you hit a rather large snag.

It might surprise you to know - because it sure surprised me - that they're a fake brand that are manufactured and sold by a company called ISS Prop House.

What's more, they don't come cheap and cost 40 dollars for a big bag and 20 dollars for a small bag. So, no spilling any of those lovely chips, TV show stars because they quite literally cost a packet.

Community is one show that used the chips frequently throughout the show’s six season (and hopefully a movie) run. The diva of a Dean is often seen eating them as is Abed and his pal Troy. Abed's favourite TV show also features Let's potato chips.

In The Middle siblings Axl and Sue Heck even share a bag. Well, kinda. Axl's not the sharing type.

As well as Let's potato chips, creators ISS Prop House also have a huge collection of props as well as doing a large range of snacks and drinks like Henry's chocolate bars, Hooskerdoo cookies, Tit For Tat bars and Rocky Road ice cream among others.

You can read more about Independent Studio Services and the props they offer here. 

According to their site, Let's potato chips come in 3 different flavours and are available for when TV show makers want their actors to get their snack on.

Note - The copyright for Let's potato chips belongs to ISS.

How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks heads from Shotgun Honey Out Dec 28th, 2018

Kirsty's loosely based on Rose McGowan's character Cherry Darling

I'm delighted to announce that I've just signed a deal with kick ass publisher Shotgun Honey to publish How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks.

You can read about the awesome Shotgun Honey here.

The novella introduces you to one-legged Glasgow barmaid Kirsty who goes on the run with a gangster's safe load of cash and gun after killing one of his security men with a stiletto heel to the skull.

Why should you want to read How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks?

It’s got a kick ass hero in Kirsty. She may have one leg - the other one was amputated after an accident - but she knows how to kick some serious butt.

She's loosely based on Rose McGowan's character Cherry Darling in Planet Terror and in Grindhouse.

There's an amazing cake that you jump out that features in a major scene in the book. Click here to read more on my blog about these pop up cakes.

There's enough twists and turns to bend your mind.

When will it be published?

How Kirsty Gets Her Kicks will be published on December 28th 2018.

Stay tuned for more details.

K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid

I was working on a bit in my zombie novel Dead Bastards where certain characters need to be in a specific place at a particular time.

I've spent weeks fretting over this, picking the brains of friends and family; it's given me sleepless nights and I’m at the stage where I feel like my brain is about to explode.

Then last night I realised one thing: I was over-thinking it. 

Readers don’t need you to tell them everything. When there are blanks they’ll fill them in and they’ll probably do it even better than you could have ever written it.

Don't over-think thinks like Malcolm In The Middle's Dewey

This realisation got me thinking of one of my favourite ever moments in one of my favourite shows. In Malcolm in the Middle, the youngest brother Dewey comes up with an elaborate ploy to convince idiot brother Reece that the aliens have arrived.

Dewey - "Malcolm, in school we learned the coolest thing: there were these people that did this broadcast to convince everyone that aliens were landing. So what we do is wait for Reese to fall asleep, then we flash some lights outside his window then we go to the TV, but we'll have already made a tape..."

Malcolm – "Dewey, you're totally over-thinking this. Reese, aliens landed down the street!"

And right enough, Reece comes running into the room wearing a mask and wielding a baseball bat and shouting "it’s every man for himself."